The Merrill Dubrow Blog

I remember when I used to go to the ARF in New York and the exhibit hall was on two floors. The hall was jammed with wall to wall people and frankly it was the place to be. I couldn’t wait to see the newest technology in our industry, hear about what was on the horizon or frankly go to the Beta Research booth, get an autograph and picture of one of the many celebrities that were there year after year. Every November when I purchased my new day-timer it was the first date I blocked out. A can’t miss conference if there was every one.

I am planning my travel schedule for the next three months which includes a number of conferences. AMA, CMOR, IIR, MRA, QRCA, CASRO, PMRG and ESOMAR are all in a span of 45 days.

http://www.quirks.com/resources/events.asp

• What conferences are you going to and why?
• How do you choose?
• Do you have any can’t miss conference that you attend year after year?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I was in Chicago the other day and started thinking about different trips to Chicago over the years.  Where I was traveling from back then was where my job was based…  from Boston….from Philadelphia…from New Jersey and now Dallas.  It’s been several bends in the road in terms of my professional career, but a very straight path when it comes to my involvement in market research associations. 

My professional life wouldn’t be as full and my career not as successful without the experiences I’ve had as an active member of this great industry. Volunteering has given me hands on opportunities in many marketing functions, and I’ve learned from all of them.  But more than the tasks and responsibilities it’s the people I’ve met and worked with that have meant so much to me…and so that day in Chicago I started to day dream and all of a sudden I found myself  back to 1993 or 1994 and thinking about the AMA. Names and faces started to appear. A big smile appeared on my face as I thought about who was either President, President-Elect or Past President back than. Names like Michelle Elster, Toby Bloomberg, Joan Treistman, Ed Sugar, Bill Madway, Bob Graham, Karen Myers, Jim Dawson and Ken Roberts went thru my mind. I remember the discussions we had during the than called “G” chapter meetings which were the top 10 largest chapters, what we had accomplished and frankly how much fun we had. I remember the Dennis Jurgensen discussions like they were yesterday.

Maybe as I get older I get a little bit more sentimental – but wow those were some of the best times!

Since those years I have had many twists and turns in my career, currently living in Southlake, Texas and President & CEO of M/A/R/C Research. What have you be doing?

Please let us know so the group is updated.

AMA Presidents Class of 1993-1994 was all class

Thanks for the great memories past and future!

I can remember when I was so impressed with a fax machine, 286 computers or even a Pentium. It seems that technology has changed now more than ever. The second you buy a computer, a faster one is introduced two days later. The world we live in now is all about communication in real-time – whether that is with constant use of your cell phone or emailing thru your blackberry while you are driving. As another way to communicate with our clients, industry contacts and become more relevant we have decided to set up our own research blog. From time to time you will here from my colleagues at M/A/R/C. In addition we will be posting industry resources, conference calendars and plenty of commentary on things.

Our goal is that our contacts use this as another way to increase their knowledge base and will participate when appropriate to have a very engaging and ongoing dialogue.

We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

– Merrill Dubrow